Method and systems for washing ethanol production byproducts to improve oil recovery

ABSTRACT

In one aspect of the invention, a method and related system efficiently and effectively recover a significant amount of valuable, useable oil from byproducts formed during a dry milling process used for producing ethanol. The method may include forming a concentrate from the byproduct and recovering oil from the concentrate. The step of forming the concentrate may comprise evaporating the byproduct using a multi-stage evaporator, as well as recovering the oil before the final stage of the evaporator. Further, the step of recovering oil from the concentrate may comprise using a centrifuge and, in particular, a disk stack centrifuge. Other aspects of the invention include related methods and subsystems for recovering oil.

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/661,733, filed Mar. 15, 2005, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

COPYRIGHT STATEMENT

A portion of the disclosure of this document contains material subject to copyright protection. No objection is made to the facsimile reproduction of the patent document or this disclosure as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office files or records, but any and all rights in the copyright(s) are otherwise reserved.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates generally to producing oil from corn and, more particularly, to recovering oil from a byproduct of the dry milling process used to obtain ethanol from corn.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Over the past thirty years, significant attention has been given to the production of ethyl alcohol, or “ethanol,” for use as an alternative fuel. Ethanol not only burns cleaner than fossil fuels, but also can be produced using corn, a renewable resource. At present, an estimated sixty-nine “dry milling” plants in the United States produce over three billion gallons of ethanol per year. Additional plants presently under construction are expected to add billions of gallons to this total in an effort to meet the current high demand.

As noted in the foregoing discussion, a popular method of producing ethanol from corn is known as “dry milling.” As is well known in the industry, the dry milling process utilizes the starch in the corn to produce the ethanol through fermentation, and creates a waste stream or byproduct termed “whole stillage” (which may be further separated into byproducts commonly referred to as “distillers wet grains” and “thin stillage”). Despite containing valuable oil, these byproducts have for the most part been treated as waste and used primarily to supplement animal feed. This feed is mostly distributed in the form of distillers dried grains with solubles, which is created by evaporating the thin stillage, recombining the resulting concentrate or syrup with the distillers wet grains, and drying the product to a moisture content of less than about 10% by weight.

Significant attention has recently been given to the use of oil, including corn oil, as an alternative fuel. This fuel oil, frequently termed “biodiesel”, is a cleaner fuel than petroleum-based diesel (less emissions), environmentally safe (spills biodegrade quickly), and can be mixed at any concentration to diesel without engine modification. The current value of corn oil as biodiesel is approximately $2.40 per gallon, or $648/ton, which is essentially double the value of the commercial feed that would normally include this oil. Although the market for the biodiesel is growing rapidly and the potential profit is significant, key limiting factors are the cost of obtaining the oil using current techniques and the resulting quality.

In this regard, efforts to recover usable oil from the byproducts of the dry milling process used to create ethanol have not been terribly successful in terms of efficiency. One proposed approach involves attempting to separate the oil from the thin stillage before the evaporation stage, such as using a centrifuge. However, spinning the thin stillage at this stage using a centrifuge creates an emulsion phase that typically requires further processing before useable oil can be recovered. Moreover, the volume of thin stillage is generally 2 to 10 times greater than the syrup, which is a considerable capital requirement to purchase the number of centrifuges required. Known techniques also lack the capability to maximize the oil recovery, which leads to decreased efficiency and concomitant lower profits. Together, these obstacles make past and current attempts to recover oil from ethanol production byproducts, such as corn thin stillage, somewhat inefficient and uneconomical.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,250,182 (the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference) describes the use of filters for removing substantially all solids and recovering lactic acid and glycerol from the thin stillage without the need for evaporation. Despite eliminating a step in the conventional process, the proposal results in a more complicated arrangement requiring multiple filtration steps. Wholesale elimination of the evaporator in the vast majority of existing plants is also unlikely and otherwise uneconomical. Filters, and especially the microfiltration and ultrafiltration types proposed for use in this patent, are also susceptible to frequent plugging and thus deleteriously increase the operating cost. For these reasons, the filtration process proposed in this patent has not gained widespread commercial acceptance.

Accordingly, a need exists for more efficient and economical manners of recovering oil from byproducts created during the dry milling of corn to produce ethanol.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with one aspect of the invention, a method of processing concentrated thin stillage created during a dry milling process used for producing ethanol from corn is disclosed. The method comprises recovering oil from the concentrated thin stillage and further evaporating the concentrated thin stillage. The recovered oil may be used, for example, as biodiesel, and the leftover concentrated thin stillage dried and used as feed.

In one embodiment, the recovering step comprises separating the oil from the concentrate using a disk stack centrifuge. The disk stack centrifuge produces suspended solids, which may be mixed with distillers wet grains. The disk stack centrifuge also produces a syrup, and the method may further comprise mixing the syrup, the suspended solids and distillers wet grains to form a mixture. The method may further include the step of drying the mixture.

In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a method of processing thin stillage created by a dry milling process used for producing ethanol from corn to recover oil is disclosed. The method comprises evaporating the thin stillage to form a concentrate. At some point in time during the evaporating step, but before it is completed, the method also includes the step of introducing the concentrate to a disk stack centrifuge. The disk stage centrifuge then recovers oil from the concentrate.

The method may further include the step of evaporating the concentrate after the step of using the disk stage centrifuge to recover oil. Preferably, the evaporating step comprises using a multi-stage evaporator to form the concentrate from the thin stillage and the step of introducing the concentrate to a disk stack centrifuge is completed before the last stage of the evaporator. The evaporator most preferably includes at least one scraped surface heat exchanger.

In accordance with still another aspect of the invention, a method of recovering oil from thin stillage created by a dry milling process used for producing ethanol from corn is disclosed. The method comprises using a multi-stage evaporator to form a concentrate from the thin stillage. Before the last stage of the evaporator, the method includes recovering oil from the concentrate. In one embodiment, the method of this aspect of the invention further includes the step of further evaporating the concentrate remaining after the recovering step.

In accordance with a further aspect of the invention, a method of processing whole stillage resulting from the dry milling of corn to form ethanol is disclosed. The method comprises recovering thin stillage including solids from the whole stillage; concentrating the thin stillage including the solids; and recovering oil from the thin stillage before the concentrating step is complete.

In accordance with yet another aspect of the invention, a subsystem for intended use in a system for producing ethanol by dry milling corn and creating thin stillage as a byproduct is disclosed. The system comprises a multi-stage evaporator for evaporating the thin stillage, as well as means for receiving thin stillage before the last stage of the evaporator and recovering oil therefrom.

In one embodiment, the multi-stage evaporator includes two distinct evaporators. These evaporators are separated by a disk stack centrifuge serving as the receiving and recovering means. Most preferably, the evaporator includes at least one scraped surface-heat exchanger.

In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a method of processing a byproduct of a dry milling process used for producing ethanol from corn is disclosed. The method comprises washing the byproduct to create wash water including oil, concentrating the wash water; and recovering oil from the concentrated wash water.

In one embodiment, the byproduct is whole stillage and the washing step comprises delivering the whole stillage to a first decanter for producing thin stillage and distillers wet grains. In such case, the method may further include the step of washing the distillers wet grains. In particular, the step of washing the distillers wet grains may comprise delivering the distillers wet grains to a second decanter for producing washed wet grains and the wash water used in the concentrating step. The thin stillage may be combined with the wash water before the concentrating step.

In accordance with still a further aspect of the invention, a system for processing whole stillage produced from dry milling corn is disclosed. The system comprises a first separator for receiving the whole stillage and creating at least thin stillage and distillers wet grains. A second separator receives the distillers wet grains and wash water for creating washed wet grains and an oil-bearing discharge (e.g., wash water or an oil phase). Means for recovering oil from the oil-bearing discharge is also provided.

In one embodiment, the first separator is a two phase decanter for producing wash water delivered to the second separator. Preferably, the second separator is a two phase decanter, but may instead be a three phase decanter. An evaporator may be provided for receiving the thin stillage and wash water to form a concentrate, along with a third separator for recovering oil from the concentrate. The system may further include a dryer for drying a combination of the washed wet grains and any concentrate remaining after recovering oil using the third separator. The evaporator may be a multi-stage evaporator and the third separator comprises a disk-stack centrifuge that receives the concentrate before the last stage of the evaporator.

In accordance with still another aspect of the invention, a system for processing thin stillage and distillers wet grains produced from dry milling corn is disclosed. The system comprises a first separator for receiving the distillers wet grains and creating at least washed wet grains and wash water. An evaporator evaporates the thin stillage and wash water to form a concentrate. A second separator recovers oil from the concentrate.

Preferably, the first separator is a second decanter downstream of a first decanter for forming the distillers wet grains and thin stillage. Either the first or second decanter may be a two phase decanter, or a three phase decanter. The second separator preferably comprises a disk-stack centrifuge.

In accordance with yet a further aspect of the invention, a system for processing whole stillage produced from dry milling corn is disclosed. The system comprises means for receiving the whole stillage and creating at least thin stillage, means for concentrating the thin stillage, and means for recovering oil from the concentrated thin stillage.

In one embodiment, the means for receiving the whole stillage is a two phase decanter. In another, the means for receiving the whole stillage is a three phase decanter. In still another, the means for receiving the whole stillage includes a two phase decanter followed by a three phase decanter, or vice versa. Yet another option is for the means for receiving the whole stillage to include a three phase decanter followed by a three phase decanter. Preferably, the means for concentrating is a multi-stage evaporator, and the recovering means is a disk-stack centrifuge. However, the means or device for recovering may comprise any suitable device for separating oil from a mixture, such as a gravity separator, a centrifuge, a centrifugal decanter, or an evaporator. Means for recovering oil using known techniques of chemical addition (pH adjustment, enzymatic action, etc.) may also be effective.

In accordance with one more aspect of the invention, a method for processing whole stillage including oil produced from dry milling corn includes the steps of: (1) washing the whole stillage to create oil-laden wash water; and (2) recovering oil from the wash water. The washing step may further include separating the whole stillage into at least thin stillage and distillers wet grains, as well as possibly oil. The method may further include the step of concentrating the thin stillage and recovering oil from the concentrated thin stillage. Still further, the method may include the step of combining the wash water with the thin stillage before the concentrating step.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES

FIG. 1 is a partially schematic flow chart illustrating the processing of co-products formed during the ethanol extraction process;

FIG. 2 is a partially schematic flow chart illustrating the recovery of oil from a syrup formed by evaporating the thin stillage;

FIG. 3 is a schematic view similar to FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a schematic view similar to FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a schematic flow chart illustrating the strategic positioning of a separator relative to the evaporation of thin stillage;

FIG. 6 is a schematic flow chart illustrating one technique and system for washing whole stillage to maximize oil recovery;

FIG. 7 is a schematic flow chart illustrating another technique and system for washing whole stillage to maximize oil recovery;

FIG. 8 is a schematic flow chart illustrating yet another technique and system for washing whole stillage to maximize oil recovery;

FIG. 9 is a schematic flow chart illustrating a technique and system for washing whole stillage to maximize oil recovery similar to the one shown in FIG. 6;

FIG. 10 is a schematic flow chart illustrating still another technique and system for washing whole stillage to maximize oil recovery; and

FIG. 11 is a schematic flow chart illustrating a technique and system for washing whole stillage to maximize oil recovery similar to the one shown in FIG. 8.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

One aspect of the invention relates to a method of recovering oil from a byproduct resulting from the production of ethanol from corn using a dry milling technique, as extensively described in co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/122,859, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. Summarizing that method, one byproduct of the dry milling process, known as “thin stillage,” is recovered by separating the distillers wet grain from the “whole stillage” leftover after fermentation is complete. As is known in the art and discussed below in further detail, this mechanical separation may be accomplished using a press/extruder, a decanter centrifuge (also simply known as a “decanter”), or a screen centrifuge. Moisture is then removed from the unfiltered thin stillage to create a concentrate or syrup, such as through evaporation. Usable oil is then easily recovered from this concentrate through mechanical processing, without the prior need for multiple stages of filtration or other expensive and complicated forms of processing.

In one embodiment of this proposed method, oil is recovered from the concentrate by passing it through a centrifuge and, in particular, a disk stack centrifuge (and, most preferably, a self-cleaning bowl type). Preferably, the concentrate delivered to the disk stack centrifuge is at a temperature of between about 150 and 212° F. (and ideally 180° F.), a pH of between about 3 and 6 (ideally between about 3.5 and 4.5) and, as a result of the preceding evaporation step, has a moisture content of less than about 90% (ideally about 60-85%). Under these process conditions, the disk stack centrifuge is able to separate the oil in usable form from the concentrate in an efficient and effective manner, despite the relatively high level of solids present (which may be recovered from the centrifuge in a continuous or intermittent fashion, depending on the particular process conditions).

Besides creating usable oil, the concentrate or syrup recovered from the disk stack centrifuge is considered more valuable. This is because the post-evaporation processing to remove the oil improves the efficiency of the drying process used on the combined concentrate syrup and distillers wet grains. A stable, flowable product for supplementing animal feed results, which thus further complements the value of the oil recovered.

To illustrate the potential benefits that may be obtained by using the above-described technique, the following examples are presented.

Example 1

Reference is made to FIGS. 1 and 2 to illustrate schematically a first example demonstrating the possible efficacy of the present method. FIG. 1 represents one technique for processing whole stillage to create distillers dried grains with solubles. The whole stillage leftover after deriving the ethanol would be mechanically separated into distillers wet grains (approx. 35% solids) and thin stillage (approx. 8% solids) using a centrifugal decanter. The resulting thin stillage is then introduced to an evaporator to create a concentrate, or syrup, having a moisture content of approximately 80% and about 17% solids. This syrup is then recombined with the distillers wet grains, introduced to a drum dryer, and dried to reduce the overall moisture content to approximately 10%. At present, an estimated total value of the resulting distillers dried grains with solubles is $600.36 per hour.

FIG. 2 represents the inventive method and a related subsystem 10 for implementing it. Initial processing of the whole stillage is done in the same fashion, and the mechanically separated thin stillage is delivered to the evaporator 12 forming part of the subsystem 10. The resulting concentrate or syrup having a moisture content of approximately 80% and a solids content of approximately 17% is delivered to a disk stack centrifuge 14, such as an Alfa Laval Model No. 510, 513, or 617 or equivalent device. At an infeed rate of approximately 35 gallons per minute, this centrifuge 14 recovers usable oil at a rate of 538 pounds per hour and produces syrup having a having a moisture content of 82.5%, but with far less oil in view of the preceding recovery step.

Recombining the syrup (which is substantially free of oil) from the centrifuge 14 with the distillers wet grains and drying in a drum dryer to a moisture content of 10% results in a product having a value of $576.46 per hour. However, the 538 pounds per hour of oil recovered has a product value of approximately $102 per hour. Accordingly, the total product value using the inventive method is $678.46 per hour, which is approximately 12% greater than the $600.36 per hour product value resulting from use of the conventional set-up shown in FIG. 1. Moreover, removal of the majority of the oil before the drying step makes the process more efficient, and results in an estimated energy savings of approximately 10%, or $26.27 per hour. As a result, product value per hour ($678.46) less the estimated dryer operating cost ($236.46 per hour with the 10% savings) and less the estimated evaporator operating cost ($50.98 per hour) is about $391.02 per hour.

Example 2

Reference is made to FIGS. 3 and 4, which illustrate a prophetic comparison between one processing method and the inventive method. The set-up is essentially the same as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, but a more effective centrifugal decanter is used than the one used in Example 1. As a result, the syrup introduced to the disk stack centrifuge would have a moisture content estimated at 60%. While this does not impact the product value figures, the syrup delivered from the disk stack centrifuge 14 has a moisture content of only 66.6%, as compared to 82.5% in Example 1. As a result, the cost per hour of drying this syrup when combined with the distillers wet grains to achieve an end product having a moisture content of less than 10% is only $158.92, or approximately 40% less. Assuming a savings in dryer efficiency of 10%, the product value per hour ($678.46) less the estimated dryer operating cost ($143.03 per hour) and less the estimated evaporator operating cost ($74.96 per hour) is $460.46 per hour. This represents an approximate 15% increase over the corresponding value calculated for Example 1.

As should be appreciated, the above-described method and subsystem essentially require the addition of a disk stack centrifuge downstream of the evaporator in the conventional system for processing corn thin stillage. Accordingly, instructions on how to implement the above-described method (including the optimum process variables) may be provided along with a disk stack centrifuge when sold to a ethanol plant for forming the novel subsystem 10 disclosed herein. Such instructions result in the most efficient implementation of the method, as compared to the situation where the scientists or engineers at the plant must experiment with the disk stack centrifuge to determine the optimum process conditions required to achieve a favorable result.

In accordance with one aspect of the invention, another method of recovering oil from the thin stillage is disclosed. As shown in FIG. 5, this embodiment is similar to the one described above in that the thin stillage is passed through a separator (centrifuge 14 and, in particular, a disk stack centrifuge (such as, for example, an Alfa Laval AFPX 513 or AFPX 617)) to recover valuable corn oil. The process conditions used may be similar or identical to those already described.

Besides creating corn oil, the disk stack centrifuge 14 also produces byproducts, including suspended solids (or “sludge”) and syrup (which were collectively referred to above as “syrup” or concentrated stillage for purposes of convenience). This syrup byproduct may be further concentrated, such as by using an evaporator, to thus minimize the amount of moisture in it (in the example, to about 50%). The resulting concentrated stillage may then be delivered to the dryer along with the distillers wet grains and suspended solids obtained from the separator, such as centrifuge 14. Since an evaporator 12 is generally considered more efficient than a drum dryer, the overall efficiency of the process improves as a result (possibly as much as 25%, depending on the performance of the centrifuge 14 and the evaporator 12).

A related aspect of the invention involves the strategic positioning of the separator for recovering oil from the concentrated stillage relative to the means for concentrating the thin stillage, which may comprise an evaporator 12 including multiple stages. In-particular, a typical multi-stage evaporator 12 used in an ethanol plant includes eight (8) successive stages, with each stage further concentrating the syrup by removing moisture. Installing the separator (centrifuge 14) prior to the last stage (e.g., at the seventh stage or earlier) may further enhance the efficiency of the process (which is considered an ancillary benefit, since the primary benefit of achieving oil recovery is accomplished regardless of this aspect). The remaining concentrate (syrup) may then be further concentrated, such as using the remaining stages of the evaporator or a different evaporator.

Primarily, this strategic positioning is beneficial because the separator (centrifuge 14) removes suspended solids, which are most responsible for fouling the corresponding heat exchangers of the evaporator 12. A side benefit is that the centrifuge 14 serving as the exemplary separator may be better able to extract the corn oil from the thin stillage at the lesser solids concentrations associated with the earlier stages of the evaporation process. Adding the separator, such as centrifuge 14, before the last stage also maximizes evaporator usage, which can result in a significant reduction in energy costs (perhaps as much as $500,000 annually for a 50 mmgy ethanol plant).

In practice, the evaporators 12 in many ethanol plants are already “at capacity.” In such cases, it may be necessary to add evaporator capacity to maximize the benefit of removing the suspended solids using the separator, such as centrifuge 14 (which, again, is a benefit in addition to that afforded by the recovery of valuable oil from a previously less-valuable byproduct: thin stillage). This can be accomplished by: (1) increasing the size of the final stage(s) of the evaporator; (2) adding additional stages; or (3) adding a separate, “stand alone” evaporator (which may include shell and tube, plate and frame, or scraped surface heat exchangers).

Yet a further aspect of the invention is another process and system for recovering oil from corn byproducts, various embodiments of which are now described with reference to FIGS. 6-11. In this aspect of the invention, the leftover whole stillage is “washed” prior to undergoing further processing. As is known in the art, “washing” animal protein products typically involves heating to liberate the oil contained therein, mixing in water, and then recovering the oil-laden liquid (termed “wash water”), which may then undergo further separation. The remaining “wet” defatted protein solids are then used in food products for animal consumption (including-humans).

In one embodiment, this “washing” process as applied to a byproduct from the dry milling of corn to produce ethanol involves first using a mechanical separator to split the raw material serving as the byproduct (whole stillage), such as a centrifugal decanter (2 phase (e.g., Alfa Laval Model NX 934 DD) or three phase), press extruder, rotary screen, or the like. In FIG. 6, this mechanical separator is illustrated as a three phase decanter 16 for splitting the raw material into three phases: a solids (heavy) phase, a water (intermediate) phase, and an oil (light) phase (typically in the form of an emulsion). Depending on the relative content, the oil phase and the intermediate phase together may be recovered for use, as discussed below, or evaporated and passed through another separator, such as a centrifuge 14, to recover valuable oil, on the one hand, and distillers wet grains and syrup on the other.

In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a portion of the liquid phase from this first mechanical separator (e.g., decanter 16) used for washing can be used as wash water in a second separator for performing further washing of the resulting byproduct. If using a three phase decanter 16 as the first separator, as described in FIG. 6, this wash water will have a lower oil content than typical thin stillage and thus may allow from higher oil removal during washing. If using a two phase decanter (as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 and described below), a portion of the decanter liquid (thin stillage) can also be used as wash water. However, the wash water can be any liquid, including but not limited to thin stillage, defatted thin stillage, or water (well, potable, condensate, etc.).

The oil content is very low in thin stillage and de-fatting it as is done in animal processing prior to washing is not necessary. For example, in animal processing, the decanter liquid has an oil content of 20% to 50% and thus cannot be used as wash water without first de-fatting it in a centrifuge (or other oil removal technique). Preferably, the wash water is at or below 1.5% oil content. As seen in FIG. 5, the thin stillage from ethanol is at 1.1% oil content and suitable for wash water without any oil removal (see also FIGS. 7 and 8, where two phase decanters are used).

In any case, this wash water may be recombined with the distillers wet grains (which still contain roughly two-thirds of the oil present in the whole stillage). In the illustrated embodiment of FIG. 6, the wash water and wet grains are then together fed to a downstream second mechanical separator, such as the two phase decanter 18. The output is “washed” distillers wet grains and wash water. The oil-laden wash “water” from the second separator (e.g., decanter 18) may then be recombined with the decanter liquid, as well as possibly with the oil phase recovered from the first separator, such as the three phase decanter 16. Together, this combination forms the thin stillage, which as described above may be concentrated and separated into syrup, suspended solids, and usable oil by a third separator, such as the illustrated centrifuge 14.

As an adjunct to this aspect of the invention, the “leftover” syrup obtained from the centrifuge 14 may be further evaporated, as described above, combined with the “washed” wet grains, and then dried. For the exemplary 200,000 lbs/hour input proposed in the arrangement shown in FIG. 6, the result may be the production of 2,664 lbs/hour of corn oil with a value of $399.59/hour and 37,778 lbs/hr of distillers dried grain solubles having a moisture content of 8.0% and a value of $1,322.24/hour. The total operating cost is $815.55/hour, and the total product value is thus $1,721.83/hour.

Compare these figures with those provided in FIG. 5, in which a corresponding input of whole stillage produces 1,309 lbs/hour of corn oil having a value of $196.34/hour and 39,251 lbs/hr of distillers dried grain solubles having a moisture content of 8.0% and a value of $1,373.79/hour. This processing also has an estimated operating cost of $722.22/hour and a product value of $1,570.13 per hour. The net figures are $847.91 for the arrangement shown in FIG. 5, and $906.28 for the one of FIG. 6, which is an approximate 6% gain per hour. In sum, the recovery of valuable oil using the technique illustrated in FIG. 6 is more than doubled for every hour of processing (2,664/1,309=2.03), which is expected since approximately half of the oil otherwise remaining in the wet grains (which is about two thirds of the total) is now being recovered.

FIG. 7 shows an alternate embodiment in which a two phase decanter 16 a is used as the first separator instead of the three phase one. From the “raw material” (whole stillage) serving as the byproduct, the two phase decanter 16 a produces distillers wet grains (essentially, the solid phase) and a liquid phase, which may again be separated into the wash water and the decanter liquid. If separated, the wash water from decanter 16 a may then be processed along with the distillers wet grains as described above, including using a second separator such as two phase decanter 18. The wash water return from this second decanter 18 may be combined with the decanter liquid phase from the first decanter 16 a to create the thin stillage.

As described above, the thin stillage may then be evaporated and separated into valuable oil and syrup (including suspended solids), such as by using the third separator (centrifuge 14). The syrup is combined with the washed wet grains from the second separator (decanter 18) and dried. This produces the same total value per hour number as the arrangement shown in FIG. 6, but at a slightly lower operating cost because only two phase decanters 16 a, 18 are used as the first and second separators, respectively.

FIG. 8 shows yet another possible approach similar to the one in FIG. 6, but the positions of a two phase decanter 16 a serving as a first separator and three phase decanter 18 a serving as a second separator are essentially switched. The oil/emulsion phase and wash water from the downstream three phase decanter 18 a is then mixed with the thin stillage prior to evaporation and separation. The resulting syrup is then mixed with the “washed” wet grains and dried. This produces the same total value per hour number as the arrangement shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 at a comparable operating cost.

FIG. 9 illustrates yet another aspect of the invention in which a three phase decanter 16 precedes a two phase decanter 18. Comparing with the similar arrangement shown in FIG. 6, the noteworthy difference is that the decanter 16 is shown operating at a higher efficiency in terms of producing oil. As a result, the substantially pure (97%) oil recovered from the first separator (decanter 16) may simply be processed independent of the thin stillage, which in the illustrated example results in an approximate 6.6% increase in the pounds of valuable oil produced per hour. The means or device for recovering oil via independent processing, or purification, may comprise any suitable device for separating oil from a mixture, such as a gravity separator (which advantageously requires no additional energy input to effect separation and, thus, further enhances efficiency), a centrifuge, a disk-stack centrifuge, a centrifugal decanter, or an evaporator. Means for recovering oil using known techniques of chemical addition (pH adjustment, enzymatic action, etc.) may also be effective.

FIG. 10 illustrates a three phase decanter 16 followed by a second three phase decanter 18 a. Again, the oil phase output from the first and second separators (three phase decanters 16, 18 a) may be independently processed or purified using the above-referenced processing means, if possible in view of the moisture content of the output, or may be recombined with the thin stillage, evaporated, and then subjected to separation, such as using a disk stack centrifuge. Again, with the former technique, an overall increase in the amount of oil recovered per hour results, possibly without any significant input of energy (in the case of gravity separation or chemical addition).

Finally, FIG. 11 illustrates a two phase decanter 16 a followed by a three phase decanter 18 a. The oil phase output from the second separator (three phase decanter 18 a) may be independently processed or purified using the above-referenced processing means, if possible in view of the moisture content of the output, or may be recombined with the thin stillage, evaporated, and then subjected to separation, such as using a disk stack centrifuge. Again, with the former, a significant overall increase in the amount of oil recovered per hour results as compared with the arrangement shown in FIG. 8, possibly without any significant input of energy.

The foregoing description provides illustration of the inventive concepts. The descriptions are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the disclosed invention to the precise form disclosed. Modifications or variations are also possible in light of the above teachings. For example; the syrup recovered from the disk stack centrifuge may be evaporated and processed again in a further effort to recover oil before drying. Moreover, in addition to a self-cleaning bowl type centrifuge as the means for recovering oil from the thin stillage, a nozzle bowl disk stack centrifuge would work, as could a horizontal centrifugal three phase decanter. The oil recovered using the disclosed processes and systems may also be used as “biodiesel” for powering motors, engines, or the like. The embodiments described above were chosen to provide the best application to thereby enable one of ordinary skill in the art to utilize the inventions in various embodiments and with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. All such modifications and variations are within the scope of the invention. 

I claim:
 1. A method of processing whole stillage produced in a dry milling process used for producing ethanol from corn, comprising: separating whole stillage into fractions comprising thin stillage and distillers wet grains; combining the distillers wet grains fraction with the thin stillage fraction prior to concentrating the thin stillage fraction; separating the combined fractions into thin stillage and distillers wet grains; concentrating the thin stillage separated from the combined fractions or concentrating the thin stillage separated from the combined fractions and the thin stillage obtained from separating the whole stillage to form a thin stillage concentrate; and recovering oil from the thin stillage concentrate.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein separating the combined fractions into thin stillage and distillers wet grains comprises delivering the combined fractions to a separator.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the separator is a centrifuge.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the thin stillage further comprises a partially defatted thin stillage concentrate.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the thin stillage combined with the distillers wet grains fraction is at least a portion of the thin stillage fraction obtained prior to concentrating the portion of the thin stillage fraction.
 6. A method for processing whole stillage including oil produced from dry milling corn, comprising: separating the whole stillage in a three phase decanter to form a distillers wet grains fraction, a thin stillage fraction, and an oily fraction; combining the distillers wet grains fraction with the thin stillage fraction prior to concentrating the thin stillage, and/or water and/or a defatted thin stillage fraction; separating a liquid fraction from the combination of the distillers wet grains fraction with the thin stillage, and/or water and/or the defatted thin stillage fraction; and concentrating the liquid fraction to form a thin stillage concentrate and recovering oil from the thin stillage concentrate.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the water is selected from the group consisting of potable water, condensate water, well water, and mixtures thereof.
 8. The method of claim 6, wherein the thin stillage fraction combined with the distillers wet grains fraction is at least a portion of the thin stillage fraction obtained prior to concentrating the portion of the thin stillage fraction. 